


I Love You Three Thousand

by SimiXiamara1



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Winter Soldier (MCU)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Established Steve/Bucky, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mention of Het, Multi, Past Pepper/Tony - Freeform, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-05-31 06:17:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19420183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimiXiamara1/pseuds/SimiXiamara1
Summary: The Endgame has come - except the ending is not quite what everyone thinks. The One in the Iron Suit has made the Ultimate Sacrifice... but something is different. No one expected this turn of events... and those left behind to pick up the pieces are forced to learn an entirely new lifestyle.





	1. Endgame

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jupis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jupis/gifts).



On this, the final battle for Earth, everything was chaos. The enemy was everywhere, and they were gravely outnumbered. But they were the Avengers, and they were not going to lose this time. No matter what it took. Every member was willing to sacrifice themselves for this cause. To protect the world. To protect their families. To protect each other. They fought for everything, and everyone, and everyone knew that there would be losses. For what is war without casualty? Everyone hoped for the best, of course, hoped they could come out of this without a single loss of life on their side... and they were mostly correct.

Steven Strange had predicted it. He alone knew how this would end. How it should end. And as he stared into the face of one Tony Stark... he could only say one thing: 

"This was the only way."

Strange stepped away, easily predicting the move that was to come. The last words spoken by the tragic hero still rang through the silence induced by the destruction of an entire invading army with the snap of two fingers. 

Cradled in the arms of a suit made of gold titanium alloy, and not of iron thank you, the scream of rage and sorrow echoed through the desolate battle field. It broke the hearts of everyone who heard it, and some would say later that everyone on Earth heard it. 

"No. No! This wasn't supposed to happen! No! Please! Please, you can't do this to me. You can't! Please!" Tears fell from a soot-covered face onto the face surrounded by metal. "Please, don't do this. Don't leave me. You can't leave me. I won't let you! I can fix this. I can fix it. Just hold on, I can fix it!" Because that's what they did, wasn't it? They fixed things. All of them. They fixed the world. They fixed each other. They fixed things.

"It's okay..." The words were whispered softly, a faint smile curled up soft lips. "You're okay. You can rest now."

More tears. Tears from someone who had sworn they would never cry. Let alone in front of all the Avengers standing around the two figures wrapped in protective armor. 

"I love you three-thousand," was the whispered response in a broken voice. Dark brown eyes watched as crystal blue ones closed forever, still smiling. After a moment of broken weeping, the crowd began to disperse at the insistence of the man in blue. A hand rested down on metal-clad shoulder.

"We should take her home," Steve said softly. "Tony... let me help you take her home." And so he knelt down, and with Iron Man's aid, slowly lifted the blue metal-clad form of Pepper Stark. She who had taken the Infinity Gauntlet... and destroyed an army... to save the world. 

Tony reached out, taking the form of his wife from Captain America's arms once he was on his feet. And without another word, he activated his thrusters and abandoned the empty battlefield. The image of her face scorched into his mind. Her smile, her eyes. Reflected now on the face of one so young. Too young to lose a mother. He had to go home. Had to go home and hold her, the words echoing in his ears....

"I love you three-thousand."


	2. The Aftermath - Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony deals with Pepper's death and what that means for after...

A pine box wasn't good enough for his beloved. No, of course not. He was Tony Stark. How could he let Pepper rest forever in a pine box beneath the earth? He couldn't of course. She deserved so much more. So, so much. She deserved to still be standing here. She deserved to be tucking their daughter into bed. Tony stared down into Morgan's face, gently stroking her hair, brushing it from her face as she slept. 

Morgan slept like he did now. She woke up constantly, crying for her mother. Tony slept on the floor in spurts, right by her bed, ready to hold and comfort her when she woke. In the mornings, he would sometimes wake to find her curled against him in the floor, her face stained with dried tears. It had been years since Tony had slept so sporadically. Perhaps Thanos had been on to something. He'd given him five years of peace. Five years of quiet. Five years of rest. 

Now that was gone.

Because of Thanos.

He couldn't rest now. He had work to do. Bringing the world back to the way it was meant bringing back the majority of the problems that had all but disappeared with the world's population. Despite Pepper's last plea... that he finally get some rest... Tony knew that he couldn't rest. And he thought... with that final smile given to him by his wife, that she knew that he wouldn't rest. No one knew him like Pepper did.

And so he rose, had gently lifted the form of his sleeping daughter from the floor and gently tucked her back into bed, and was now stroking her hair. Such innocence. Such purity. Pepper had been pure. Not an evil or cruel bone in her body, something she had passed to Morgan, and Tony was thankful for it. She would need it... the daughter of the Merchant of Death. He hoped she never lost it. With that thought, he got to work.

He entered into a secret space within the small cabin, a work space he'd created where he could work on things without endangering Morgan with any experiments. A camera pulled up her bedroom so that he could keep an eye on her while she slept and he worked. A few taps on a keyboard, and a holograph appeared in front of him of a man and Tony smiled.

"Hello, Homer. Long time no see."

"Yes, sir. It is good to be seen again. What are our projects today?"

"A new suit," he said softly. "We have work to do..." And so he and his not-so-new AI Assistant began working on designing a new line of Iron Man suits. He cast a glance to the current line, including the one that had been warped and partially melted and had held the love of his life. It hadn't been strong enough. He needed to make them stronger. Strong enough to withstand the infinity stones. Strong enough... maybe... to bring her back.

He looked then to another section of his work space, where rested a box made of a specially crafted alloy that was completely clear. He had crafted a special resting place for her, Morgan had made the suggestion. A replica glass coffin that held Snow White in Morgan's storybooks. 

But that wasn't all. It was a cold chamber, keeping Pepper perfectly preserved. There had to be a way to fix things. Had to be. And he would find it. The others had not allowed him to use the infinity stones to bring her back. Strange had declared that it would be impossible. Just like it had been impossible to bring back Natasha. 

But Tony Stark didn't believe in impossibilities. Everything was possible. Time travel. Space travel. Everything people thought of as ridiculous notions at one time were now a reality. He would find a way to bring back what they'd lost. Pepper, maybe even Natasha. Wouldn't that surprise Clint? He smiled slightly at the thought. The Guardians had retrieved her body from Vormir while returning the Soul Stone. She rested peacefully beside of Pepper in a confine quite similar, though no one other than himself and Clint knew that. 

The other's thought she had been cremated, and that Clint had her ashes. But Clint had known that Tony would not give up on Pepper... and so he had demanded that he not give up on Natasha either. They were family, after all. And one did not give up on family. Tony worked well into the night, and he probably would have gone on past dawn had his external cameras not alerted him to the arrival of guests. Cursing the Avengers' golden boy for disrupting his work, he exited his work space, locking it down tightly once more, and moved to answer the door.

But Captain America was not the only one standing on his front porch in the early morning light. Tony stared out at them, watching them warily. Of all the Avengers to walk onto his front deck, it had to be these two. These two, who still brought an ache into his chest where an arc reactor had been shattered by a vibranium shield. They had fought each other... and fought together... but Tony Stark didn't forget. It was his blessing... and his curse.

"Well, what brings Captain Steve Rogers and Sergeant James Barnes to my humble abode? World in danger? Need another sacrificial lamb?" His tone was bitter, and who could blame him? He'd been prepared to sacrifice himself. He had not been prepared to sacrifice the mother of his child. 

"We're just here to see if you need anything, Tony... that's what friends do," the golden boy spoke. "May we come in?"

Tony hesitated, debating on telling them both to go shove it. Finally he stepped aside to allow them entrance. 

"Keep it down, Morgan is asleep upstairs." Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have a bit of company. Even if it was mildly annoying company...


	3. Feels Like Home - Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony reconnects with old... friends?... who are trying to run an intervention.

"How long has it been since you left the house, Tony? It's been over a month since-"

"Since my wife died in my arms? Yeah, Cap. I know how long it's been. I haven't wanted to spend any time around anyone else," Tony interrupting, walking towards the kitchen of the cabin with both of the super-soldiers flanking him. "Coffee?" he asked, though his tone was a bit curt. 

"You're not the only one that lost someone, Tony. We all loved Pepper, she was... too good for this world," Steve said softly. "Clint lost Nat... Wanda... she lost Vision. We lost friends."

"I lost my wife, Rogers. My _wife_. I feel for Clint and Wanda, I do." Tony set two cups of coffee down on the table, placing his palms on the wood and leaning over as the two super soldiers sat down. "But Pepper... she wasn't just my best friend. She wasn't my girlfriend. She was the _mother_ of my child. My daughter lost a mother. Spare me your heroes speech about how no one won that fight." He pushed himself up from his position and moved over to the stove. 

A month.

A month's worth of take-out. Cold cereal for Morgan's breakfast instead of hot pancakes and eggs. He was Tony fucking Stark and he didn't even know how to fry a fucking egg for his daughter's breakfast. He braced himself on the edge of the stove. Pepper had loved to cook. He could see her face... her beautiful smile glancing over at him as he repaired the microwave that had shorted out. Or drawing at the table with Morgan. Drawings that still hung on the refrigerator, as if waiting for Pepper to coo over them as she did every morning.

"Tony?" 

Right. Captain America and the Winter Soldier were demanding his attention. He composed himself, straightened up and turned back around to face them. 

"What, Rogers?" 

"We're worried about you. Not just Bucky and me, but Bruce, Clint, Wanda, Thor, Sam... all of us, we're worried that you're spiraling. You need help, Tony." Steve watched him for a moment, wrapping his hands around the mug in front of him. 

"Help? You mean like a shrink? You want me to see a _shrink_?" Tony demanded viciously. "I'm not crazy, Cap. I'm _grieving_. And unless I'm wrong, and I'm not because I am _never_ wrong, no one can tell me how I can or cannot grieve. Not the man my father idolized, not the assassin who killed my father, and my mother, thank you. Not some wanna be God of Thunder or former carni-turned-spy. No one. If you came here only to insult my intelligence, then you can leave, Captain."

"Tony, you misunderstand, that's not why we are here. We just want to help." Finally, the Winter Soldier spoke. 

" _Help_? Help how? So far I've not seen any help."

"Whatever you need, Tony." 

Typical Captain America. How magnanimous of him. Whatever he needed. Whatever he needed?! He shook his head, laughing.

"What I _need_ , Rogers... is my wife." 

He turned and made his way out of the kitchen, out of the cabin, and walked towards the lake. He knelt down on the dock, staring out over the water as the early morning light shone across the ripples. This place had been built for Pepper. This cabin. This life. This quiet, peaceful life. He had promised Pepper that she would not have to worry if he was going to come home again. Worry if Iron Man would be taken down by some... alien force. 

He lost track of how long he was sitting there. Long enough for his knees and back to ache. The joys of getting older. Joints began to crack as he rose and made his way stiffly back to the cabin. Morgan would be up soon. The sun was fully up now. He entered into the cabin and was assaulted by the scent of cooking meat and the sound of grease popping... and a young girl giggling. 

He hadn't heard that laugh in what seemed like eternity. He made his way into the kitchen... and there, situated in the lap of a rather uncomfortable-looking former assassin... was his daughter. She sat on his knee the same way she had sat upon his, a fist full of crayons. 

"What's your favorite color?" 

Such an innocent question from an innocent soul. Tony's heart broken. He hadn't seen her smile since before he had left to help gather the infinity stones.

"Blue." 

She pulled out a blue crayon and began to color on the page in front of her. "We should paint your arm blue," she suggested. "What's it made out of? Doesn't look like any metal I've ever seen."

"That's because it's made of Vibranium," Steve provided helpfully from his position at the stove. He was frying sausage and frying eggs in the same pan. He was actually cooking breakfast.

"I've heard Daddy talk about that. That's the strongest metal on earth right? Is it heavy?" 

"So heavy. When they first gave it to me, all I could do with it was let it hang by my side," Bucky commented, dropping his arm like dead weight beside of him. "I felt like I was dragging around an elephant." Bucky offered a smile to the girl. 

"Don't let him fool you, sweet-pea. Vibranium is a third of the weight of steel," Tony said, announcing his presence finally.

"Daddy! Captain America is making me fried eggs!" Morgan exclaimed, leaping from Bucky's lap to race to Tony's side, wrapping her arms around his waist. 

"Oh sure, sure, spoil my daughter, why don't you?" Though the jab was a little bitter, there was no animosity in it. He smiled appreciatively at Steve, his own failed attempt at making Morgan's favorite breakfast food that had ended up little better than burnt black rubber. His daughter abandoned him then in favor of a plate of eggs and sausage that Steve set down on the table.

And for a moment... the small cabin that had become a crypt over the last month... that was no longer filled with joy or laughter...

Felt like a Home again.


	4. The Man Without A Heart - Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Long ago, a woman named Pepper Potts provided proof that Tony Stark had a heart. But when she was no more, that heart ceased to beat...

Tony wasn't sure when exactly he agreed on letting Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes move in with him. They had been there for a little over a week. He did not think he ever actually agreed on it, they just never left. Both sleeping on the floor of his living room in front of the fireplace for the first two nights before Tony finally showed them to the guest room. Perhaps that was when he officially 'agreed', but damn it he was tired of tripping over them in the night. 

They had made a routine. Steve got up, made breakfast, and then went outside with Morgan. Sometimes they played. It was amusing to watch Captain America lose a game of hide and seek to a five year old. Sometimes he took her around back to the small garden that Pepper had started. It had been nearly taken over by weeds when Steve had first found it, but under his and Morgan's diligence, each row was perfectly weed-free again, and the blooms were starting to come in. A few plants even had small fruits beginning to grow. 

Bucky... he kept to himself a lot. He had found the boat that Tony had been building so he could take Pepper out on the water for a bit of leisure time away from Morgan... and had actually finished the thing that Tony couldn't bring himself to touch after he had come home. He had taken it out fishing once already and brought back a veritable feast of fish that Steve helped him to clean and prepare for dinner. The rest they had frozen. 

Steve was going out of his way to try and teach Tony how to cook. He still wasn't the best, but at least Morgan declared his eggs as 'okay' by the sixth day. There were a lot of things that Tony was observing the two men do. Domestic activities that one would not normally have expected from two soldiers from 1940s Brooklyn. How to properly make a bed. Tony had not even been aware that there was a wrong way? How to cook. How to tie up Morgan's hair. Bucky had been especially helpful there. He who wore his own long hair high on the top of his head most days.

Perhaps they were helping more than Tony would ever like to admit. The cabin didn't feel so desolate anymore. There was always noise, whether it was voices carrying through the rooms, dishes clicking together, or music playing. He hadn't had a lot of time to go back into his hidden lab to work, Steve and Bucky seemed to know when he was trying to sneak off and attempted to engage him in other things, likely not realizing what they were keeping him from.

He did go in every night to speak with Her though. Tell her how well Morgan was doing now that Steve and Bucky were there to play with her. What did he know of raising a five-year-old? When he'd been five, Howard had sat him down and had him start running the company numbers. By seven, he was building missiles. He didn't want that for Morgan, even though she had already been showing signs of superior intellect for quite some time. Reading books that no normal five-year-old should be able to comprehend. Unlike him, however, she didn't lean towards reading instruction manuals. Learning how to take things apart and put them back together. 

She was a romantic. Reading her mother's old classic literature books that were sitting on a shelf in the living room. She sat down every night to read a new book. And yes, she read a different book every night. She read faster even than Tony did anymore. His eyesight was starting to go... and he needed reading glasses to read his own handwriting sometimes. Though he'd never admit that to anyone, the glasses stayed locked in his lab on his desk. Instead of him reading to her every night as most normal fathers did with their daughters, Morgan was reading to them. 

They didn't watch television, there were still too many reports going on about the Avengers, and Tony couldn't handle it. He didn't want that for Morgan either. So the three men sat in the living room, Tony in his favorite chair, Steve usually on the sofa with Bucky either beside of him or on the floor in front of him while Steve brushed his hair... and Morgan would lounge back in her mother's favorite chair and read them a story.

Tony looked down at her as she dozed in the chair, the book in her lap was one she read when it was just her. When she didn't read aloud to them. The worn cover long since cracked and faded. One well read. Tony's fingers slowly caressed the yellowed pages. It had been one of Pepper's favorites. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin. He gently pulled the book from Morgan's fingers and gently lifted the small girl into his arms. Carrying her upstairs, he gently tucked her into her bed, kissing her forehead gently. She shifted, a soft moan escaping her lips. "Mommy?" she whispered softly, and Tony's heart broke.

"No, sweetie... it's daddy." He kissed her again. "Go back to sleep, cupcake. It's late. I love you."

"Love you three-thousand," she replied sleepily without opening her eyes, turning to her side and clutching at the doll that resided in her bed.

Tony's eyes closed slowly, a tear escaping his grasp as he rose up, brushing it aside and left his daughter alone. He walked downstairs and began to tidy up the living area. 

"It never goes away." Tony paused, glancing over at Steve as he slowly walked into the room. "The pain of missing her? It won't ever really go away. Trust me. I know..." he stated with a small, sad smile. "I think of Peggy every day. And she and I were no where near where you and Pepper were." He reached out, pulling Tony into a tight hug. "You can talk to me if you want, Tony. It's okay to have a moment of weakness or two." 

Tony struggled for a brief moment, though nothing was breaking the super-soldier's grip on him. After a moment, his arms came around Steve and he let himself break down completely.

And there, in the arms of Captain America...

The man without a heart cried.


	5. The Man In Blue - Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain America observes the situation in Stark Cabin and comes to a decision.

Blue eyes took in everything. The state of the home, the stale air that spoke of a father and daughter being locked away for weeks unending. They were all worried. How could they not be? After what had happened with Clint when he had lost his own family? Tony still had Morgan... but he had lost Pepper. It was Clint who suggested that they check up on Tony when they hadn't heard from him in so long. Make sure that he and Morgan hadn't withered away into nothing without Pepper to take care of them. Bless Tony's heart, he was brilliant. Beyond brilliant. 

But he was clueless.

Which was made obvious rather quickly when he had been informed by Morgan that Tony did not even know how to cook breakfast. Pepper had always cooked. It made sense, he supposed. Tony was rich. He could just hire someone to make his food. Had a butler when he was a child to make sure that he consumed proper sustenance. He wondered vaguely what Tony had been feeding Morgan for a month. But if the amount of leftovers in the fridge was any indication, it was largely comprised of take-out food. Not healthy at all for a growing child. Or an aging billionaire.

So that had been step one: teach the billionaire how to cook basic meals. Convince him it was healthier for his daughter. He had known that this would not be a simple visit. That it would not be just an afternoon. They were going on 8 days in the cabin now, and Tony seemed to be opening up more to their presence, which was good. Tony had tried a few times to sneak off alone, but Clint had made it clear that Tony probably didn't need to be left alone for long. He might want to be... but he didn't need to be. 

Steve had already told Bucky to go on to bed, his longtime friend and lover wasn't as used to being around people for an extended period of time. He was a loner. This was taking it's toll on his energy, even with just Tony and Morgan. Morgan was fascinated by Bucky, and Steve had to admit, though Bucky had shown that he was quite skilled at handling the attentions of the five-year old. So Steve went in search of Tony, finding the master bedroom door wide open and empty. He walked down the hall and heard Tony's short interaction with his daughter, his chest clenching slightly at the tone of Tony's voice.

He knew what it was like to miss someone. How long had he suffered under the belief that Bucky had been dead? And then when he had known he was alive, yet in danger? Fearing that Hydra would once again get their claws into his best friend and the love of his life and freeze him for another seventy years? He followed Tony downstairs. He paused in the doorway, watching Tony for a moment before he finally spoke.

"It never goes away." Steve watched as Tony hesitated, looking over at him, the look on his face asking for clarification. "The pain of missing her? It won't ever really go away. Trust me. I know..." How could he not know? He chose the one that Tony would mostly likely relate to. "I think of Peggy every day. And she and I were no where near where you and Pepper were." He approached Tony slowly, his chest still a bit tight as he pulled Tony into an embrace. "You can talk to me if you want, Tony. It's okay to have a moment of weakness or two."

Tony struggled for a moment, tried to push him away, but he refused to relent, and it paid off as he finally heard the sob escape from Tony. He stood there, arms around the man he had always called friend. Even though they'd had their differences. He knew that Tony had always wanted what was best for others. When Tony finally had calmed, Steve held him just a bit longer and slowly pulled back, gently gripping his shoulders. "It helps not to bottle things up, you know... you should let your feelings show a little more often. Your more... tender feelings," he added as a bit of a joke. "Less rage and more love. I don't think I saw you cry at the funeral?"

"Because Stark men are made of Iron." Tony recited as if it were something that had been drilled into him from a young age. Steve frowned, a few bells ringing in his mind as he watched Tony.

"Howard used to say that."

"Yeah. Yeah, he did." Tony turned away from him again and began to finish his task of tidying up the home. 

"We're here for you, Tony. For as long as you need us. Bucky and I... we know that we owe you a lot. And whether you may want to hear it or not, the world owes you a great debt as well. So you take your time. We'll be here, ready to be whatever it is that you need us to be when you're ready." Steve turned away from Tony then, moving upstairs to the guest room and quietly opening the door. 

A vibranium arm was laying across the desk, and Bucky was draped across the large bed in naught but a pair of pajama pants, and Steve smiled fondly. Stripping down himself and dressing in a similar pair of pants, he crawled onto the bed beside of his lover. A soft moan came from Bucky's lips as he turned to look at Steve. 

"Go back to sleep, Buck," he whispered, lightly pressing his lips to Bucky's and pressing up against his side, resting a hand on Bucky's chest as Bucky's arm came around his shoulders. 

"Stevie?"

"Yeah, Buck?"

"Stark needs our help... but I don't think he'll ever admit it."

"I know. We'll just have to help him whether he wants us to or not."

"Mmkay."

"Goodnight, Bucky."

"G'night, Stevie."


	6. The Winter Soldier - Bucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky has Stark-Duty.

The place really could do with some repairs. Was it insulting to simply do them? He was informed that yes, it was. He should ask first. Ask. Speak to the man whose parents he had murdered in cold blood. Speak to the man they had left in the snow and ice with a shattered arc reactor and non-functional suit of armor. The girl was easier to talk to. There were no regrets. Though he was unfamiliar with interacting with small children, she was intelligent. Almost frighteningly so. She could carry on a conversation as if she were years older, even if her speech were a bit slurred when her young tongue did not wish to form complex words.

To hear the word 'vibranium' from the mouth of a five year old had been endearing indeed. After two days, he got up the courage to ask about the unfinished boat by the lake. Could he finish it? The answer was yes, though the former assassin could tell that Stark hadn't particularly liked having to interact with him. And no one could blame the billionaire, him least of all. The boat was completed relatively quickly, it had almost been completed anyway. And so he spent a day on the lake, taking a break, soaking in the sun and the water. The lake was filled with fish, and it was evident by the catch he brought home. Stark had seemed impressed.

He spent the next few days helping Steve. Steve mostly watched after Tony, which left Morgan with him. He taught her how to string a line. How to cast. And watched as she caught her very first fish. She was quite a fast learner as well. It was as he was tying his hair back and she asked him if he could do hers too that he realized that Tony had no idea how to help his daughter put her hair up. And so he had escorted her back to Tony and sat her down. Without actually trying to seem like he was talking to Tony, he told Morgan what he was doing as he put her hair up.

He did not want Tony to think that he was under the impression that he could not take care of his daughter. But this was something a father should know. He felt Tony's eyes on him as he spoke, knowing that Tony was absorbing the information as quickly as Morgan herself was. Like father, like daughter, it would seem. And once her hair was securely piled atop her head, she bounced off to get a book to read. There was a moment then, when Tony met his eyes, and Bucky did not see open hostility there.

Progress.

He could feel Tony's pain radiating from him. Who, better than he, knew what pain was? He knew pain. Pain and he were old friends. The Winter Soldier knew pain very well. When Steve came to bed, he could feel his sadness as well, though Steve was channeling Tony's sadness, he knew. It still hurt him. He hated seeing sadness in Steve's eyes. Steve's eyes were meant for hope and happiness. Not despair and anger.

Steve had gone to the store. Apparently, Tony didn't know how to shop for groceries. The Take-Out King had declared that there wasn't really a need when there were places that would bring you fully prepared food right to your door. Steve had disagreed. Taking Morgan, and the car that Morgan informed them had belonged to Pepper, they departed early that morning... leaving Bucky with Stark duty.

"Is there anything I can do to help out around the house?" Finally, a question he'd been trying to ask since day one. There were boards on the front porch that needed to be secured back down, there were leaks in the garage, the lawn needed to be tended to in serious ways as well. He waited as Tony pilfered around the living room, picking up a pair of Morgan's shoes from where she had been helping Steve in the garden.

"No."

Bucky sighed, watching Tony silently for a moment. He raised his right hand, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. After another moment, he spoke again.

"May I make some suggestions?"

Tony looked at him like he'd grown another head. It turned from surprise to anger, and Tony slammed down the shoes he was carrying and marched towards Bucky. Bucky took a step back, not entirely sure he liked where this was going. He didn't like being cornered, and his eyes darted about, looking for a way around Tony so that he did not have to confront and possibly kill Tony Stark. Thankfully, Tony seemed to notice his distress and stopped his advance.

"I never asked for you and Rogers to come into my house and turn everything upside down. You know how hard this is going to make everything for Morgan when you finally get bored of playing house and leave?" Tony demanded. "She's going to go back to eating Take-Out because I still haven't learned how to fry an egg to the proper texture for her like Rogers apparently can. I can't run around the house and go fishing with her or play in the garden with her twenty-four/seven. I have work I have to do, I still have a company to run..." 

He was beginning to see just how much Obi and Pepper had taken control of the company, how many small details he never thought about because he always had someone else to pick up the pieces that were too boring for Tony Stark to deal with. The mundane tasks that kept a business afloat. 

"You should just be grateful we are helping. Steve really cares a lot for you, and he understands what you're going through, you just don't care enough about other people to see it!" Bucky shouted. He was tired of the way that Stark was treating Steve. Like an intruder in his home when all Steve wanted to do was help! If it had been up to Bucky, Stark could have rotted for all he cared. After the way he'd done Steve? If not for the little girl...

No child should have to suffer the loss of a parent. No child should be stuck with only Tony Stark for their soul provider.

"Understands? He doesn't understand anything! What did he lose, huh? A girlfriend that he'd never even gone on a real date with!? First love and all, I suppose, right? Well that's a load of bullshit, he doesn't understand a damn thing!"

"HE LOST ME!" 

Silence. Tony stared at him as Bucky was the one to advance this time, retreating a few steps himself.

" _He lost me_. When Thanos snapped his fingers, he watched me disintegrate into dust right before his eyes. He didn't even have anything to bury! I was gone!" He narrowed his eyes slightly. "And what did you do? Did you go to Steve's house and check up on him? No. You ran away. You took your girlfriend and married her and made a nice little life in the woods. Well, I'm glad you got a bit of happiness, Stark, but don't you dare, don't you _dare_ tell me Steve doesn't understand. He lost me. Twice. He watched me fall to what he thought was my death in 1944. He lost me again 5 years ago, and he had to go on. Did you even call him?" Bucky demanded.

Tony only stared at him, as if in shock, realizing maybe for the first time that Steve had suffered too. He scoffed, shaking his head and looking away. "I'm going to make some repairs around here. Your place is falling apart, you won't have a cabin to retreat into if some of the repairs aren't made. Try not to do anything stupid while I'm working." He turned and moved away to begin working on the list of repairs he had steadily been adding things to every day, both hands, human and bionic, curled into fists. He had to walk away, or more than just the cabin would be needing repairs.

So much for progress.


	7. Together - Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gets a further glimpse into Tony's growing fears and pain.

If anyone had told Steve that he would be spending an entire morning with a five year old at a grocery store a few years ago, he'd have told them that they were mad. It had been a rather enjoyable experience. Morgan knew how to turn a mundane chore into something more interesting. She had a very good memory, and her wit was quick. It was amazing how much she reminded him of Tony, but her wit, unlike Tony's, was rarely caustic. She had not been disillusioned by the world yet. Or perhaps it was a bit of Pepper's personality tempering Tony's. This girl was going to be a handful as she got older. Tony had his work cut out for him.

Of course, another joy of going out in public was going out in public. Captain America spotted at local grocery store. He could see the headlines now, but Morgan was very patient with people wanting to stop them and take pictures with them. He pulled her aside after nearly half a dozen people had stopped them. 

"I apologize for the delays, Morgan," he said, kneeling down in front of her. But you're being very patient and so grown up. Why don't we get you a little something special as a reward, hm?" He smiled at her, brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear. He was a little taken aback as she shrugged.

"Daddy used to be in front of cameras all the time... he doesn't much like them now, though. After Mommy went away, there were lots of cameras outside. Lots of people outside our house. Daddy kept telling them to leave. They didn't. I couldn't even go outside and sit by the lake. Until he made them go away." Steve frowned slightly. 

"Made them go away how?"

"A smoke grenade." Smoke grenade. Good lord, no five year old should have to know what a smoke grenade was. Steve bowed his head slightly and gently pulled Morgan against him. 

"I'm sorry, Morgan. I should have come to check up on you and your dad sooner." He pulled away, smiling at her. "So. How about getting some ice cream?" He asked, smiling gently. And her returning nod and grin were a welcome sight away from talk of smoke grenades.

\--------------------------------------

They pulled up to the cabin, Morgan's face covered in chocolate, and even her hands were covered in chocolate. He would have to make sure to get her washed up when they got inside. He stepped from the car, moving to the back to help Morgan from her booster seat and she raced inside to find her father, likely to tell him all about the double chocolate ice cream cone she had talked Steve into buying for her. Steve looked up as a hand reached around him to lift up bags from the back of the car and he smiled, leaning back just a bit.

"Hey, Buck." A vibranium arm came around his waist gently as Bucky pulled him back against him a little more firmly. "How did things go with you and Tony?"

"Badly." Steve frowned, pulling away to turn and look at Bucky for a moment.

"What happened?"

"We had an argument. I nearly punched him. I walked away."

"Good, you're doing better," Steve said, reaching up to touch the side of Bucky's face before glancing around. "Where is Tony?"

"Don't know. I've been out here, doing those repairs I was telling you about. He was inside last I saw."

"Alright. Thanks, Bucky," Steve said, gathering up the rest of the bags and closing the back of the car, walking into the cabin with his lover and setting the bags in the kitchen. "Tony?" he called out.

Morgan came into the kitchen then, and surprisingly, her face and hands were clean. "He's probably in his secret room that I'm not supposed to know about," she replied simply, climbing up onto a chair at the table.

"Secret room?" 

"Behind the bookcase in the living room. I watched him go in there a few times before Mommy left," she said simply. "I don't know how to open the door though. The bookcase is too heavy for me to move." She set about her drawings, coloring in the figures on the paper. 

Steve glanced at Bucky for a moment before he moved into the living room. There were several bookcases, so he wasn't sure which one Morgan was talking about. "Tony?" he called out, moving towards one of the bookcases on the wall beside the fireplace. Though before he could touch it, the bookcase began to slide out. There was a staircase located behind it, and Steve followed it downward.

"Homer, show me the specs on that circuit conductor." 

Tony's voice echoed from below, and Steve continued down the stairs, pausing at the door to a lab that was just as well equipped, bright, and tightly packed with tech as any lab in the Avenger's Tower in New York. And there in front of Tony, a brand new Iron Man suit. This one, unlike the other's, was more gold than red, however, and was opened up as Tony tinkered with the interior, a holograph of what Steve only assumed was a circuit conductor slowly spinning beside of him.

"Mm, I'll need to make it smaller for it to fit properly. Maybe I can convince T'Challa to part with some vibranium so that it can withstand the current when I shrink it..." Tony mused aloud.

"Why not just ask him for enough vibranium to make the whole suit out of it?" Steve suggested from the door.

"Not practical. I looked into it. The outer shell maybe, but... it would take a great deal more vibranium than your shield or Barnes's arm put together, and they tend to be rather stingy with their vibranium." Tony's voice was neutral, and he did not turn to look at Steve. 

"I think for you they might make an exception if you'd only ask," Steve reasoned, moving forward towards the billionaire genius. "Tony... why are you making a new suit? The threat is ended."

"The threat is never ended."

"Well maybe not, but you don't have to do this anymore. You have Morgan to worry about." Steve's tone was pleading, and he reached out to try and touch Tony's shoulder.

"That's right, I do. I have to worry about the safety of my daughter in a world wrought with chaos," Tony spat. "Where I worry about sending her to a school next year because there are so many school shootings and children her age dying all over the country. Where I have to worry about bombs, or taking her to the damn movies. How can I stop? There's too much. Always too much. I can't stop. I was a fool to think I could." 

"And what happens if you get killed, Tony? And you leave Morgan an orphan?" 

"She'll go to Happy. Happy will take care of her. Happy's great with her. Or maybe Rhodey. Rhodey would be a good dad. Both would be better options than me."

"Tony, don't say that."

"Why not? Everyone knows it. Everyone except maybe Morgan. I'm a shit father. I know it. You know it. Barnes knows it. I've been focused on myself so long I don't know how to take care of someone else. Let alone my daughter." His voice lowered slightly. "But I'm selfish. I can't give her up." Steve could sense the turmoil rolling through Tony, even though his back was to him. He could see the tension, feel the heartache radiating off of him. He dropped a screwdriver suddenly, the noise almost startling, and by the time he bent to retrieve it, Steve was already there. He knelt down, picking up the screwdriver and handed it back to Tony.

"You're not a bad father, Tony. And you're not alone. Bucky and I will stay for as long as you need us to. Heck, maybe we'll build a cabin right next door," he teased, smiling at Tony. He raised a hand, gently resting it on Tony's knee as he watched the other male, squeezing his leg. "Come on upstairs, and I'll start dinner." He rose then, lightly patting Tony's shoulder. He paused at the door. "We'll get through this Tony. Together. Like always." He smiled sadly and headed back upstairs to begin preparing dinner.

His heart ached for Tony, it really did. And he knew that they couldn't leave. Not while they were needed. And Tony desperately needed them. He looked at Bucky as he entered the kitchen, sitting with Morgan in his lap as she drew her pictures and he smiled. He leaned in, kissing the other male gently, making Morgan giggle just a bit, and it was adorable enough that he leaned in and kissed her forehead as well, and her giggles got even stronger, until Bucky's arm had to rise up to keep her from tumbling from his lap. Steve smiled and moved to the stove. 

Bucky had already put the groceries away, so that was one less thing for him to worry about. Instead, as he cooked, he went over ways in his mind to sooth Tony's pain and help him come to grips with the fact that it was okay to ask for help...


	8. Breakthrough - Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony continues to push back, but Steve isn't about to give up so easily.

"Why are we here, Stevie?" 

"Tony needs us."

"Does he though? They've survived a month on their own."

"Surviving isn't the same thing as living, Bucky." Steve's tone was soft, patient. Even after everything, sometimes, Bucky's empathy was... lacking, to say the least. Remaining 'glitches' from his Winter Soldier training. 70 years of being tortured had a way of stripping away pieces of the mind. You became numb to everything. It was the only way to survive. He'd made a lot of progress, of course, but still, sometimes, Steve had to remind himself that they still had a long way to go.

"He doesn't want us here, Stevie. And frankly, I don't blame him. Why don't we just leave and send someone else? What about Banner? They're close, aren't they?"

"This place isn't exactly built for someone of Banner's size, Bucky. And Banner..." he sighed softly. "He tried talking to Tony early on. About losing Nat, trying to get through to him. He shut Bruce out. That's what makes it so important for us to stay. Proud people, like Tony, they always fight help the hardest when they need it the most." Steve was washing the dinner dishes up, Tony had yet to come up from the lab, and a plate of food sat in the microwave for the billionaire. Morgan had gone to her usual reading chair, and as Steve glanced over into the living room, she had fallen fast asleep in the chair. 

"Do you want Tony or Morgan?" Steve asked his lover, raising an eyebrow. As expected, Bucky moved into the living room to gently gather the small girl up into his arms to carry her upstairs. Steve finished the dishes before fetching Tony's plate of food and moving back to the book case. This time, the book case did not automatically open for him, however, and he frowned. He reached out, gripping the book case and tugging. It didn't budge. That alone surprised Steve. He should have been able to move a bookcase with one hand no problem. Yet this one was not moving even an inch.

"Tony?" he called out, frowning, worry creasing his brow. "Tony!" Silence. The bookcase remained closed. Steve set the plate down and used both hands to pull on the bookcase. Again, it didn't move an inch. "Bucky!" 

No sooner had Steve called for him that Bucky was there, standing beside him, eyes scanning for a threat or anything that had made Steve's voice sound that way: fearful. What would Steve be afraid of? 

"What is it?"

"I can't get this open. Tony's not responding. He could have had an accident. Help me!" 

And so, both super soldiers applied all their strength to the bookcase, and finally, the sound of groaning metal sounded and then a snap and the bookcase broke free of the wall. Steve immediately rushed downstairs, and behind a door that hadn't been there before, Steve could see Tony. Draped over his desk, eyes closed, immobile. The faint sound of rock music could be heard behind the door. Steve beat on the metal. "Tony!" he shouted. There was no reaction. 

"Damn it!" He grabbed hold of the door, and once again, found that the door wasn't budging. Bucky was right there, and the two of them heard the groan of metal and a few more snaps before the door slid open, though the music halted in the room and suddenly, there were alarms sounding. Loudly. The computers instantly shut down, emergency red lights began flashing and several walls slid from the floor, slamming into place to hide portions of the lab from view. 

Tony jerked as soon as the alarm sounded, an Iron Man gauntlet was instantly pulled over his hand and aimed at the door at the two super soldiers. Thankfully, Tony realized who they were before he fired full blast at them. 

"What the hell?!" he demanded, turning to his computers. "Homer! Deactivate Emergency Protocol, it was a false alarm. Just two nosy super-soldiers breaking and entering." The alarms stopped and the computers switched back on, but the walls that had risen remained in place, needing a manual override to be deactivated. He turned back to Steve and Bucky. "And you did, didn't you? You broke my fucking door down!" He rose up, moving to the sliding door that they had literally snapped the electromagnetic locks on in order to get into his lab.

"We thought you were hurt!" Steve exclaimed. "You didn't answer us! You didn't come up for dinner!" Steve ran a hand through his hair. "Don't you ever do that again! Don't play your music so loud that you can't hear us when we call out to you!" Steve was ready to throttle the other male who was standing there having the audacity to be angry at them! 

"Well I wasn't hurt. If I had been, breaking into my lab is never the answer. I have security measures, you know, so people can't just waltz in here and steal my suits or... something else. You could have been shot by lasers or disintegrated." He scowled, staring at Steve and Bucky. "Super soldiers or not." He shook his head, moving back to his desk, making a note to repair the inner door and the outer bookcase, undoubtedly. If they had broke one, they had broken both. 

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine."

"I was bringing you something to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Tony, you need to eat something."

"You're not the boss of me, Rogers. Stop acting like it. You were never the boss of me."

Steve approached him, stopping beside of him. "I'm not trying to be your boss, Tony. I'm trying to be your friend. You seem to have less and less of those as the days go on by, you have to keep pushing us away."

"Maybe I would if you would all just get the hint. I don't want or need your help."

"But you do, Tony. You do." Steve moved upstairs, grabbed the plate of food and brought it back down, setting it down on the desk beside of him. "Whether you believe it or not, Tony... I am your friend. No matter what happened in the past... I never stopped wanting to be your friend. And I'm not going to leave until I know you're alright." He gently touched Tony's shoulder before he moved back to the stairs. He barely heard Tony's response, spoken in a tone that sounded so defeated and tore at his heart:

"You'll leave. Sooner or later, everyone always leaves." Steve paused for a moment on the stairs, looking over his shoulder, past Bucky, at Tony.

"I'm not leaving, Tony. I promise. And Captain America never breaks a promise." The look on Tony's face was almost hopeful. As if he didn't dare let himself believe Steve's words, but spoke of a very real desire to want to believe. "I told you, Tony... we'll face everything together."

"... Together?"

"Together."

"Alright, Rogers. You win." And Tony reached out, picked up a piece of fried fish and placed it into his mouth.


	9. Nightmare - Bucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky comes to a realization.

"Mommy!" An ear shattering scream, sobs and shouts. "Mommy!"

The house came awake all at once. Bucky vaulted over the bed, over Steve even, scrambling from the room and down the hall. The screaming had stopped, but still he heard the screams inside of his head. He threw open the door, not even realizing that he was missing an arm that still lay upon the desk in the room with Steve, but the sight that greeted him wasn't at all what he expected. Sure, he had noticed the pile of blankets and pillows in the corner of Morgan's room, but he had assumed it was some childish game that she played. He could see now that it was disheveled, like it had been slept in, and there on Morgan's bed, holding the small girl... was Tony Stark.

It was no wonder he had never caught Tony in the master bedroom. Steve had just assumed that he rose before them and made his bed every day. Bucky hadn't thought Tony was the type to replace fancy throw pillows on the bed every day, but Steve had been unconcerned about Tony's sleeping habits. It became clear to him in that moment, however... that Tony didn't sleep in the master bedroom. He slept here. In Morgan's floor. To sooth her nightmares. 

She was crying softly in his arms, and he was rocking her back and forth. Bucky couldn't make out what he was saying, but it seemed to be calming her. Her eyes were closing again as her head rested on his shoulder. He watched Tony rub her back gently and slowly lay her back down on the bed, tucking her in and gently giving her a doll. It was the most normal thing he'd seen Morgan have for a girl her age. Little girls should be playing with dolls, not writing novels. That's what Morgan had told him she wants to do: write novels. 

Bucky hadn't noticed Steve beside of him until Tony turned to face them both, looking between him and Steve. Bucky raised his right hand, rubbing at the back of his head. 

"Sorry. Heard her scream. We got worried," Bucky replied softly. Tony shifted to face them fully. 

"She's fine. Just had a bad dream. You can go back to bed now." Tony moved from the bed then, back to the piles of blankets and pillows in the floor and he sat down, leaving on the lamp by Morgan's bed as he began to tap away at a few things on a tablet that Bucky had not noticed had been laying amidst the makeshift bed.

"Do you need anything?" Bucky was surprised to hear himself ask. Tony looked up at him curiously, as if he were also surprised at the offer. 

"A stiff drink," Tony said with a hint of humor in his voice. "But I don't have any in the house..." He shook his head a bit. "Not since Morgan was born. Pepper told me she wouldn't have that around our daughter." Bucky tilted his head just a bit.

"That's for the best. Kids shouldn't be around alcohol," Bucky reasoned. He felt Steve stiffen beside of him ever-so-slightly. "Goodnight, Stark. Try and get some sleep so you don't pass out on your desk again." With that, he tugged Steve back to their room and climbed back into their bed. Wrapping his arm around the other soldier, he pulled him close.

"I didn't realize Stark was an alcoholic."

"I don't know that he is. And if he is, he's definitely a high-functioning one," Steve said softly. "But I haven't seen much of him... outside of work." And he really hoped Tony hadn't been drunk for missions. That could have been disastrous. "Seems like if he was he quit though."

"For his daughter." Maybe Stark wasn't quite as shit of a father as Bucky had thought. He supposed that Stark was doing the best that he could. He stayed near her when she slept so he could be there when she had a nightmare. 

"That's a good reason to get clean," Steve reasoned. And Bucky agreed. Tony had stopped drinking for her. That was something that gave him major points in Bucky's eyes. He couldn't stand alcoholics. Steve's own father had been an abusive alcoholic, and he remembered Steve coming to his window at night with a new black eye or a busted lip. He hated alcoholics.

"That it is."

"Go back to sleep, Bucky. You promised Morgan you'd take her out in the boat tomorrow." Steve sounded like he was nearly asleep himself.

"Yeah, I remember." But perhaps it was time for him to apologize to Stark for the snap judgments he had made. It couldn't have been easy, suddenly being completely responsible for someone else when you were only ever responsible for yourself before. He had no doubts that Pepper had been the primary caregiver to Morgan up until her death. She seemed like that sort of woman. The sort who would be involved in every little aspect of her daughter's life that was possible. 

Tony seemed more the type to watch from a distance. A loner, like him. And it was no secret that Tony Stark was an egocentric narcissist. Everyone knew it who knew Tony Stark. So suddenly he had to make someone else his priority. Maybe Steve was right about him. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Tomorrow, Bucky thought to himself, he would try to talk to Stark again... maybe try and work with him on a few things that needed to be worked on. 

For Morgan's sake.


End file.
